Is Call of Duty A Dying Series

Activision's Call of Duty is one of the best selling and most popular ef="/Vi deo Games">video games of all time. It has consistently broken records with each new release to the series. In spite of such rampant success, is this video game beginning to wane in quality and appeal?

Call of Duty: Black Ops is the latest addition to the series, and recently took a record for having such a successful first day of sales. However, many gamers find that they are losing interest in the game a mere month after having played it. CoD is a game that is meant to have a meager single player campaign coupled with a complex and entertaining multiplayer aspect that lasts years until the next release. However, many long time fans are finding themselves losing interest in the game.

One of the minor things that scare some new comers off is the learning curve associated with the game. Again, this is minor but there are ways for one to become better in Call of Duty: Black Ops. When a novice goes up against a professional in the game, there is often little to no challenge to be had. Either the player is not used to aiming at someone who has a superior sensitivity or weapons, or they are unfamiliar with the first-person shooter's or maps as a whole. Whichever the case, that is one thing that I have seen scare off gamers.

A major thing that deters gamers from becoming a fan of the series is the massive amount of camping associated with online game-play. This is indirectly due to the developers, Treyarch, implementation of higher, "nerfed", kill streaks. They decided to make it so any kills you acquire by virtue of your kill streak reward does not raise your kill streak at all. So players will often camp with the intention of getting the 11 kill streak required for a gun ship or the attack dogs. When I first bought the game and I ran into a group of organized campers, I probably lost all faith in the game, although I decided to get to level 50 before putting down the game officially. It is a very bad experience that often ruins the fun for players who merely want to run-and-gun throughout the place and enjoy themselves.

Lastly, and less likely to affect the fan-base as a whole, is a boycott going on with few Call of Duty fans due to Activision's irresponsible actions. Months ago, Infinity Ward and Activision were in the spot light for publicly clashing over withheld royalties and accusations of bullying and other unfair actions. I originally was one of those whom were boycotting Activision, but when I saw that they had record sales anyway, I decided my attempts were futile and decided to get the game merely to spend time with my friends on Xbox Live, since I was just about one of the only people who did not have the game.

All in all, I think the Call of Duty series is a dying series. Why? Gamers are beginning to lose interest in what the game has to offer, as seen by the reaction of many to Black Ops. While the hardcore gamers may always have an interest in the series, new comers and long time fans may begin to lose faith when they see the same thing being recycled over and over with a lack of radical improvements.